AMD A8-7670K Review

Entry-level Desktop processor released in 2015 with 4 cores and 4 threads. With base clock at 3.6GHz, max speed at 3.9GHz, and a 95W power rating. A8-7670K is based on the Godavari 28nm family and part of the A8 series.
Price 59%
Speed 57%
Productivity 34%
Gaming 70%
Category Desktop
Target entry-level
Socket Compatibility FM2+
Integrated Graphics Radeon R7 (on-die)
Cooler Included No
Overclock Potential 15 %
Year 2015 Model
Price 308.25 USD
Number of Cores 4 Cores
Number of Threads 4 Threads
Core Frequency 3.6 GHz
Boost Frequency 3.9 GHz
Max Stable Overclock 4.5 GHz
Power Consumption 95 W
Manufacturing Process 28 nm
L3 Cache 4 MB
Maximum Supported Memory 64 GB
Price-Value Score 59 %
Speed Score 57 %
Productivity Score 34 %
Gaming Score 70 %
Max 1080p Bottleneck 59.5 %
Max 1440p Bottleneck 29.7 %
Max 4K Bottleneck 14.9 %
Overall Score 29/100

The A8-7670K is one of AMD's entry-level Desktop processors. It was released in 2015 with 4 cores and 4 threads. With base clock at 3.6GHz, max speed at 3.9GHz, and a 95W power rating. The A8-7670K is based on the Godavari 28nm family and is part of the A8 series.

AMD's Steamroller series has landed, upping the ante with Intel in its high-stakes game for desktop PC market dominance with a well-rounded lineup of new chips that push mainstream platforms to higher core counts and more raw compute than we've ever seen. As a result, Intel's commanding presence in the enthusiast space is threatened in a way we haven't seen in over a decade.

As we've seen, gaming remains an advantage for Intel, so if squeezing out every last frame is all you care about, Intel's processors are a good choice. Much of that performance advantage will be less noticeable when gaming at higher resolutions, or if you pair the processors with a lesser graphics card.

Our look today at the AMD A8-7670K showed that it is a very capable processor. A 4-core processor sounds like it would be really under-powered these days, but we were pleasantly surprised with a snappy and very capable system. Having just 4 cores had this processor coming in at the back of the pack for heavily threaded workloads, but it performed better than some of its more expensive siblings in lightly threaded workloads where it shined thanks to its high base clocks.

The AMD A8-7670K seems to be a decent performing chip that is readily available for $308.25 at your favorite retailer. The main competition for this processor is the Core i5-4690K 4-Core unlocked desktop processor with Intel HD Graphics 4600 graphics ($300 shipped).

Bottom Line, the AMD A8-7670K does not get much media attention since it is entry-level 5 Gen Core Godavari processor, but it is a very capable processor that still delivers a good computing experience for entry-level users.

The A8-7670K clocks up to 3.9Ghz just as it promises on the box, and with AMD’s software you can take one of the cores all the way up to 4GHz. However, don’t expect to get much beyond that without seriously upgrading your cooling solution and manually tweaking voltages behind the operating system level.

That said, to squeeze out all the potential of this surprisingly potent entry-level chip, you’ll want (and need) to splurge on an enthusiast-grade A75, A78, A88X motherboard.

Fresh from a successful roll-out of mainstream A8 CPUs, AMD's attack on Intel now extends down into the entry-level with its A8-7670K processors, which the company is making available as of Sep 2015.

Which GPU to Pick for AMD A8-7670K

Below is a comparison of all graphics cards average FPS performance (using an average of 80+ games at ultra quality settings), combined with the AMD A8-7670K.

Graphics Card Price Cost Per Frame Avg 1080p Avg 1440p Avg 4K
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB $ 1,599 $ 10 160.2 FPS
212.9 FPS
163.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Ti 20GB $ 799 $ 5.3 149.5 FPS
198.6 FPS
152.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB $ 999 $ 6.9 144.6 FPS
188.6 FPS
131.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16GB $ 1,199 $ 8.6 138.9 FPS
184.3 FPS
141.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB $ 799 $ 6 133.4 FPS
177.1 FPS
135.8 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB $ 899 $ 6.8 131.5 FPS
171.5 FPS
119.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 24GB $ 1,499 $ 12 124.8 FPS
159.9 FPS
115.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT 16GB $ 1,099 $ 9.2 119.5 FPS
155.8 FPS
108.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB $ 1,999 $ 17 117.5 FPS
156 FPS
119.7 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB $ 999 $ 8.5 117 FPS
150.8 FPS
107 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16GB $ 649 $ 5.9 110.2 FPS
141.9 FPS
100.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 20GB $ 799 $ 7.3 108.8 FPS
142.2 FPS
106.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB $ 699 $ 6.4 108.8 FPS
139.4 FPS
100.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB $ 599 $ 5.7 105 FPS
136 FPS
103.1 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 10GB $ 599 $ 6.4 93.3 FPS
120.5 FPS
88.6 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB $ 579 $ 6.6 87.3 FPS
112.4 FPS
79.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB $ 499 $ 6 83.2 FPS
106.6 FPS
77 FPS
NVIDIA TITAN RTX 24GB $ 2,499 $ 32.7 76.4 FPS
101.1 FPS
73.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB $ 1,299 $ 17.5 74.4 FPS
98.4 FPS
71.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB $ 479 $ 6.5 73.4 FPS
95.3 FPS
66.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB 8GB $ 399 $ 5.5 72.2 FPS
94.7 FPS
70.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB $ 399 $ 5.9 68.2 FPS
89.7 FPS
66 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB $ 699 $ 10.4 67.5 FPS
88.4 FPS
63.9 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB $ 399 $ 6.1 65.1 FPS
84.9 FPS
60.6 FPS
NVIDIA TITAN V 12GB $ 2,999 $ 46.4 64.7 FPS
85.6 FPS
63.4 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB $ 299 $ 4.6 64.7 FPS
85.3 FPS
63.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 7600 8GB $ 269 $ 4.2 64.6 FPS
84.4 FPS
60 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8GB $ 699 $ 11 63.8 FPS
82.7 FPS
59.3 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB $ 379 $ 6.2 61.1 FPS
79.3 FPS
56.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB $ 759 $ 12.7 59.8 FPS
78.9 FPS
57 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB $ 499 $ 8.4 59.4 FPS
76.2 FPS
54.9 FPS
NVIDIA TITAN Xp 12GB $ 1,199 $ 20.5 58.6 FPS
76.2 FPS
56.3 FPS
AMD Radeon VII 16GB $ 699 $ 11.9 58.6 FPS
75.6 FPS
53.7 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB $ 399 $ 7 57.1 FPS
73.6 FPS
52.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB $ 499 $ 8.9 56.3 FPS
71.2 FPS
52 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 8GB $ 200 $ 3.6 56.3 FPS
73.6 FPS
54.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB $ 329 $ 5.9 55.9 FPS
71.9 FPS
52.4 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB $ 400 $ 7.5 53.3 FPS
66.2 FPS
47.6 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5700 8GB $ 349 $ 6.7 52.3 FPS
67.5 FPS
47.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB $ 499 $ 9.8 50.8 FPS
64.5 FPS
45.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB $ 350 $ 7 50.2 FPS
60.9 FPS
42.9 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB $ 279 $ 5.6 49.4 FPS
63.1 FPS
44.6 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 295X2 4GB $ 1,499 $ 31.5 47.6 FPS
59.6 FPS
45.1 FPS
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB $ 499 $ 10.5 47.5 FPS
61.2 FPS
43.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB $ 409 $ 8.7 47.1 FPS
59.8 FPS
42.4 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 6GB $ 249 $ 5.4 46 FPS
58 FPS
41.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12GB $ 999 $ 21.8 45.8 FPS
57.4 FPS
40.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB $ 279 $ 6.2 44.8 FPS
56.9 FPS
40.3 FPS
AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB $ 399 $ 9 44.5 FPS
57.3 FPS
40.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB $ 399 $ 9.2 43.3 FPS
54.5 FPS
38.4 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB $ 229 $ 5.4 42.2 FPS
53.7 FPS
38.1 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB $ 649 $ 16.3 39.8 FPS
50.3 FPS
35.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB $ 220 $ 5.5 39.7 FPS
50.5 FPS
35.7 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 590 8GB $ 279 $ 7.4 37.7 FPS
46.5 FPS
32.2 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 FURY X 4GB $ 649 $ 17.9 36.2 FPS
47.8 FPS
34.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4GB $ 160 $ 4.6 34.6 FPS
43.8 FPS
31 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB 8GB $ 199 $ 5.8 34.3 FPS
42.3 FPS
29.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB $ 549 $ 16.1 34.2 FPS
42.6 FPS
30.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB $ 229 $ 6.9 33.4 FPS
41.2 FPS
28.4 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 Nano 4GB $ 649 $ 19.7 32.9 FPS
42.7 FPS
30.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK 6GB $ 999 $ 31.3 31.9 FPS
39.5 FPS
29.4 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 FURY 4GB $ 549 $ 17.7 31.1 FPS
40.2 FPS
28.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB $ 254 $ 8.2 31 FPS
38.5 FPS
27.3 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 4GB 4GB $ 169 $ 5.5 30.7 FPS
38 FPS
26.2 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 390X 8GB $ 429 $ 14.3 29.9 FPS
38.6 FPS
27.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB $ 170 $ 5.8 29.4 FPS
36.6 FPS
26 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB $ 329 $ 11.4 28.9 FPS
35.6 FPS
26.3 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB $ 400 $ 14.2 28.1 FPS
35.9 FPS
26.1 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 390 8GB $ 329 $ 11.8 27.9 FPS
35.2 FPS
23.8 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB $ 169 $ 6.1 27.6 FPS
34.8 FPS
24.1 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB $ 149 $ 5.6 26.4 FPS
33.2 FPS
23.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB $ 179 $ 7.3 24.6 FPS
31.2 FPS
22 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 380X 4GB $ 229 $ 11.1 20.7 FPS
25.9 FPS
18.7 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 285 2GB $ 249 $ 13.4 18.6 FPS
23.4 FPS
15.9 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 380 2GB $ 199 $ 10.8 18.5 FPS
23.1 FPS
15.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB $ 169 $ 9.3 18.2 FPS
22.9 FPS
16.2 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB $ 279 $ 15.5 18 FPS
22.8 FPS
15.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB $ 199 $ 11.2 17.8 FPS
22.2 FPS
15.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 3GB $ 169 $ 10.9 15.5 FPS
19.3 FPS
13.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 560 4GB $ 99 $ 6.9 14.3 FPS
17.7 FPS
12.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 2GB $ 159 $ 11.4 14 FPS
17.3 FPS
12.5 FPS
AMD Radeon R7 370 2GB $ 149 $ 10.8 13.8 FPS
16.2 FPS
11.8 FPS
AMD Radeon R7 265 2GB $ 149 $ 10.9 13.7 FPS
15.7 FPS
11.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB $ 140 $ 11.1 12.6 FPS
15.6 FPS
11 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB $ 149 $ 12.2 12.2 FPS
13.4 FPS
9.8 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB $ 79 $ 7.9 10 FPS
12.4 FPS
8.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 2GB $ 79 $ 8.3 9.5 FPS
11.8 FPS
7.9 FPS

Related Discussions and Issues

F
Ferduun September 07, 2016

Need some help choosing an APU

Hello, I am on a budget and want to build a computer able to do everyday tasks and 720P gaming (casual, mostly World of Warcraft).

I decided to go for the FM2+ platform, however I need some help picking an APU, and have many questions.

The store I am buying from offers the following prices:

  • A8-7650K (without the new 95W cooling solution): 74.49€

  • A8-7670K (probably with the old cooler): 84,67€

  • A10-7860K: 97,44€

Which do you think hits the sweet spot for the money?

I am worried I'd have to replace the old stock coolers (maybe with this? ARCTIC Alpine 64 Pro Rev. 2), as I hear horrible things about them, except for the A10, which would cost as much as an A8 + aftermarket cooler.

I'd like to keep the prices at a minimum however, considering the small performance difference between the chips.

From what I understand overclocking does not make a massive difference with these chips, should I bother at all? Would that be impossible anyway with the old A8 stock coolers?

Lastly, is there anyone with an APU with Legion beta access who could tell me what sort of performance I can expect?

I know that's a lot of questions, but I'd be grateful if you can answer a few of them.

K
Kromaatikse August 22, 2016

Go for the A10. You get the new-type heatsink (which isn't bad) and a better iGPU than in the A8.

Also, iGPU performance depends significantly on available RAM bandwidth. Make sure you get dual-channel RAM at the highest frequency you can afford.

If you do that, you won't need to overclock. With an iGPU, overclocking the CPU cores would make no difference anyway, and overclocking the iGPU would have limited impact without sufficient RAM bandwidth.

F
Ferduun September 11, 2016

Thanks! Forgot to mention, I am going for an ADATA 2x4GB 2133 CAS10 kit.

I am going for this motherboard https://it.msi.com/Motherboard/A88XM-P33-V2.html#hero-overview so I cannot use 2400 anyway, and the only stick I could find in my price range is CAS13.

J
Jamjosef September 03, 2016

What's your build budget if you don't mind me asking?

F
Ferduun September 03, 2016

Roughly 300-350€ pushing it. Including a Seasonic S1II 520W for upgrades/future builds.

K
KVA1 August 30, 2016

The A8-7650K is the best APU value. The 512 SPs in the A10 are not fully utilized due to memory bandwidth limitations. Performance of the A8's iGPU is identical in games to the A10. The A8 can be overclocked to match stock A10 speeds probably with no extra voltage on the stock sink. The A10s are the worst value of the APUs believe me. If I could do it over again I wouldn't have bought the A10 [EDIT] looks like I'm too late. Also reddit is a terrible resource for this stuff. Check out overclock.net/f/10/amd-cpus

F
Ferduun September 11, 2016

The store now has the 7650K with Quiet cooler for 75€, it is really tempting...

M
mineroad August 14, 2016

Yeah, echoing what others have said, go for the A10. The 7860k is the newest of the bunch so it will be supported longer and it's more efficient than the other two. Either of the cooler options that come with it are pretty good and will keep it cool without being super loud.

Source: I own a A10-7860k. Sorry can't give you gaming benchmarks. I use it as an HTPC and virtualization box. When I use it for gaming I'm streaming to it from my main desktop.

F
Ferduun September 15, 2016

Either cooler option? Isn't the 95W Quiet cooler the only one available?

B
Buzz_Le_Dingo September 15, 2016

[Build Help] Got these parts for around $300 on cyber monday... what upgrades do you recommend? What video card?

On cyber monday I ordered this build for around $300 based on a recommended thread from slickdeals. I already had the PSU from an old build. Do you guys have any recommendations for (1) cheap upgrades, (2) a video card that would allow me to play Fallout 4/Skyrim and stream steam games to an Nvidia Shield TV box, or (3) parts I'm overlooking? I'm able to return parts for something else if a different one makes sense.

Also old parts I have if usable:

  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive

  • NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS (PVT88SFDDU) 384 MB DDR3 SDRAM PCI Express x16

  • ASUS VS248 Monitor

New Build Parts

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price CPU AMD A8-7670K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor $99.99 @ Amazon Motherboard Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard $52.98 @ Newegg Memory G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $42.89 @ OutletPC Storage Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $147.99 @ Amazon Case Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case $43.99 @ NCIX US Power Supply Corsair Enthusiast 550W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $387.84 Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-03 10:17 EST-0500

Thank you!

A
andysaurus_rex August 30, 2016

While that APU does have "powerful" dedicated graphics, it's not going to come anywhere near what you would expect from something like a current gen console.

My advice is to return the APU and motherboard and SSD (because it's too expensive for this budget), and get a Pentium, GTX 950, and a mechanical HDD OR a much cheaper SSD (120GB Sandisk is a good option) with intent to get a mass storage mechanical drive in the near future.

Here's what I'd do if I were you

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price CPU Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor $69.99 @ B&H Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $42.98 @ Newegg Memory G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $42.89 @ OutletPC Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $45.88 @ OutletPC Video Card Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card $139.99 @ SuperBiiz Case Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case $43.99 @ NCIX US Power Supply Corsair Enthusiast 550W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total (before mail-in rebates) $415.72 Mail-in rebates -$30.00 Total $385.72 Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-03 10:54 EST-0500

edit: I just saw that you already have a HDD laying around, which is perfect. You can do what you want with the extra $45, but I would put it towards a GTX 960.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price CPU Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor $69.99 @ B&H Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $42.98 @ Newegg Memory G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $42.89 @ OutletPC Video Card MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card $179.99 @ SuperBiiz Case Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case $43.99 @ NCIX US Power Supply Corsair Enthusiast 550W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total (before mail-in rebates) $409.84 Mail-in rebates -$30.00 Total $379.84 Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-03 11:00 EST-0500
B
Buzz_Le_Dingo September 03, 2016

Thanks - am I sacrificing a lot of (non-gaming) power by switching to that mobo and processor? What's the tradeoff?

L
LFKhael August 30, 2016

I wouldn't really recommend ditching the whole APU combo, especially for such an incremental upgrade like a G3258 and a whole new motherboard.

Put your money towards a new GPU. Get a modest cooler for your 7670K like a $20 Hyper TX3 and overclock.

B
Buzz_Le_Dingo September 15, 2016

Thanks. Do you know if that's going to be a loud cooler? I'd be willing to spend a little extra for a quieter one.

S
Steve_The_God August 22, 2016

[Build Help]CS:GO Machine for a friend

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price CPU AMD A8-7670K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor $99.88 @ OutletPC Motherboard ASRock FM2A55M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard $40.59 Memory Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $21.45 @ Amazon Storage Seagate Momentus Thin 320GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive $39.99 @ Newegg Case Cooler Master Elite 241 ATX Mini Tower Case $23.19 Power Supply Cooler Master Elite Power 460W ATX Power Supply $32.50 @ Directron Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) $85.99 @ NCIX US Monitor HP LE2002x 20.0" Monitor $58.00 Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $401.59 Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-22 22:50 EST-0500

Can the A8's intergrated graphics run CS:GO at min 60 FPS on medium? The monitor's highest resolution is 1600x900, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Eventually I'll be buying a R7 250 to CFX with the A8, can that run modern games at a minimum of 30 FPS?

Most of the games my friend will be playing is CS:GO and Dota 2 nothing much other than that, he already has a decent mouse and mouse pad, I'll be giving him my old dell OEM keyboard.

Oh and he's upgrading from a scrub laptop running on a old Pentium and it's intergrated graphics.

Any suggestions to reduce the price or increase performance?

S
sandboxbohemian August 30, 2016

[Build Help] Need advice building a moderately powerful sub-$1000 living room cube gaming build

I am a first time builder trying to move from console to PC. I am planning to keep the PC in the living room and use my TV as the monitor. So, I am looking to build a Micro-ATX PC.

I am a big fan of open-world games and want to play games like GTA V, Skyrim or FarCry 4 at 60 fps at medium settings. It would be great to play them on high settings, but I am not sure if this is possible within a $1000 budget. And since I do not have a Windows key, that comes out of the same budget. :(

I really like the Node 804 case and have been hoping that the price comes down soon.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price CPU AMD A8-7670K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor $99.88 @ OutletPC CPU Cooler Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler $27.99 @ Newegg Motherboard Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard $62.55 @ Newegg Memory Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $82.99 @ Newegg Storage Transcend 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $83.53 @ Amazon Storage Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $49.98 @ OutletPC Video Card Sapphire Radeon R9 380 4GB NITRO Dual-X OC Video Card $208.98 @ Newegg Case Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case $117.98 @ Newegg Power Supply Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $39.99 @ Newegg Optical Drive LG GS40N DVD/CD Writer - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total (before mail-in rebates) $825.87 Mail-in rebates -$65.00 Total $760.87 Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-09 17:30 EST-0500

Any help will be highly appreciated.

K
KrustyKrab223 August 18, 2016

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type Item Price CPU Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor $174.89 @ OutletPC Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $52.98 @ Newegg Memory Mushkin ECO2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $29.99 @ Newegg Storage Sandisk Ultra II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $79.99 @ Adorama Storage Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $49.98 @ OutletPC Video Card Asus Radeon R9 380X 4GB Video Card $224.99 @ Micro Center Case Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case $108.99 @ SuperBiiz Power Supply SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply $55.99 @ SuperBiiz Optical Drive LG GS40N DVD/CD Writer - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $777.80 Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-09 17:48 EST-0500

An i5 would be massively better.

T
TheRealMcCoy95 September 15, 2016

You could even squeeze in a 390 into that build and keep it sub 1000.

K
karlyvez September 07, 2016

A newbie needs help from the PROS!

Build Help/Ready:

Ladies and Gentlemen, hope youre having a good day. Because I'm not :( Im back with new ideas of a PC Build for Counter Strike:Global Offensive.

Just to start things off I'm aiming for maximum FPS. (Who plays CS:GO for the beautiful graphics anyway?) My budget is now up from $350 (from my last post) now its up to $400 a big s/o to my mom for that extra $50 cheers!

So here it is. Behold! [AMD Godavari A8-7670K 3.6Ghz Socket FM2+ Quad Core Processor] [ASRock FM2A58M-VG3+ FM2 DDR3 Motherboard] [1TB Samsung Hard Disk Drive] [G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)] [600 Watts Power Supply] [AMD Radeon™ R9 380X]

Sorry bout those specs if I haven't put prices yet. Im not sure where to get them I just googled some reviews on those parts. But I have some ideas where to buy them in our country. Which is the Philippines.

And also im really new. Thanks alot. Sorry for many questions peace out!

A
AngelOfBodom September 11, 2016

CPU help?

Hey guys. I'm new to the PC/PC gaming community and am planning to get my first build. I am on a budget, but the only thing I have left is the CPU. The motherboard I got has a FM2+ socket, so I'm planning to stick with it. I honestly want to get a APU due to the fact I am on a budget and know that I can add a dGPU later. The three that I'm looking at are: a10-7870k, a8-7670k, and a8-7700. I have two sticks of 4gb 2133mhz RAM. As for games I'm planning to play: indie steam games (farsky, cloud built, etc) and games like Overwatch. I've spent around $170ish on the case, RAM, mobo, HDD, etc. I'd ideally like to keep it under $300. Any suggestions?

My build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/angelofbodom12/saved/rYf6Mp

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FreeMan4096 August 22, 2016

7870k has decent iGPU and is within your budget. It's a good CPU for your purpose.

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Liquidretro September 11, 2016

gaming with onboard graphics generally isn't the best in terms of performance. I would recommend a dedicated GPU.

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AngelOfBodom September 03, 2016

I was looking into it earlier, however I only have $130 left to spend. Again, I'd be mainly playing indie steam games. Thank you for the advice. I'm definitely planning on getting one eventually. Just can afford it right now.

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Lamella August 10, 2016

7870k or 7850k, but know that if you're planning on adding a dedicated GPU later these CPUs will probably bottleneck performance for anything above a gtx960 (edit: or maybe 970). I have an a10-5800k and was not satisfied with onboard graphics so I added a 960 and it works just great, no bottleneck, but personally i wish i had saved up a bit more and gone with an i3 or i5, since now i am limited in my upgradeability.

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AngelOfBodom September 15, 2016

Is there a big difference between the two? I was planning on getting a GPU eventually once I finish paying bills and such. I don't mind the limitation of upgrading right now. I'm just hoping to be able to play games with my buddies.

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reddanit August 30, 2016

If your total budget is under $300 then pretty much only way to get reasonable performance is buying used.

Two main options for doing so are:

  • Getting a used gaming PC as is.

  • Getting a used prebuilt with decent CPU, then upgrading its PSU and GPU.

First option is relatively straightforward. Second one though requires some planning and familiarity with older hardware - all in all though, with some looking around you should be able to fit within that budget some used office PC with i5-2500 or better, GPU like Radeon 7850 or 7950 and new EVGA 500B PSU. Just be mindful of compatibility between parts.

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AngelOfBodom August 26, 2016

I initially wanted to take an older office PC and upgrade it, however I came into some problems while attempting to do so, so I figured I'd build something for the same.price. I definitely had all your ideas in mind when looking into this. Thank you for your input. I'm still new.to this community, so I figured why not just do it from scratch to at least get familiar with it. I posted my build in the post, if you care to give more.of you input!

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H-O-P August 28, 2017

I need help, is it my pc components fault or windows?

Helllo! :) My name Luke or (HOP) I have always been a pc gamer but just on a laptop I recently decided to buy a desktop computer and am having many problems but before I tell you them i may aswell give you my specs , Please dont judge this is my first time and im going as cheap as possible

SPECS: A8-7670K with Radeon™ R7 Graphics

1TB Hard drive

4GB RAM (Hopefully upgrading to 8GB soon)

Some gigabyte motherboard and This might be the cause of my problem: A 250w power supply Upgrading ASAP

My Problem:

  • Only 3.45gb of my ram is usable i've tried everything on youtube to fix this

  • GTA 5 launched first time worked perfectly, Now says "unable to initialize directx 9" But it worked first time

  • Csgo also launched before but the next day i woke up and it refuses to launch now ( It does launch but the program doesn't open , asif i have to open task manager and go to details to close it)

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    awesomegamer919 August 28, 2017

    The RAM being smaller than you expected sounds like 32Bit Windows...

    Reinstall DirectX9 to try get GTAV working again...

    No offence but even on a low budget you can do much better than this...

    H
    H-O-P August 16, 2017

    Im Buying second hand and i payed £60 in total so far ive ordered a Gt 1030 for £60 and 8gb ram for £20 Next up is the psu,I havent done that bad, have I? and no its defo 64 bit

    H
    H-O-P September 03, 2017

    Need help choosing gpu

    Suhh duds,

    I have a AMD A8-7670k And no gpu ATM and i need a gpu secondhand or new for under £100/$130, any recommendations if so can u provide link aswell maybe?

    L
    Lonxu August 31, 2017

    https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powercolor-radeon-rx-460-red-dragon-single-fan-2048mb-gddr5-pci-express-e-sports-graphics-card-gx-18a-pc.html

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    H-O-P September 03, 2017

    Yea looks good, how does it compare to the 950?

    R
    rotsono December 19, 2019

    Need help upgrading my Work-PC

    Hey Guys,

    with black friday coming up i really want to upgrade my work PC to a light gaming PC

    For gaming i thought about games like stardew valley or terraria, maybe minecraft, so nothing that needs a lot of graphics power. For work stuff and general internet usage the current components were fine.

    I dont have any set budget so i would just start with like 300€~, because i dont really know what i can keep and what i need to replace. I buy from germany.

    My current setup is this :

    PCPartPicker Part List

    Type Item Price CPU AMD A8-7670K 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor $109.43 @ Amazon Motherboard ASRock A88M-G/3.1 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard - Memory G.Skill Ares Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-2400 Memory $48.35 @ Amazon Storage SanDisk Ultra II 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $69.95 @ Amazon Storage Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $34.95 @ Amazon Case Nanoxia Deep Silence 4 MicroATX Mini Tower Case - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $262.68 Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-02 21:10 EDT-0400

    I couldnt find my PSU on PcPartpicker, but its a 300 Watt be quiet! Pure Power 9 Non-Modular 80+ Bronze.

    What i thought about was keeping everything, but the CPU, MB and RAM and buy the following:

    PCPartPicker Part List

    Type Item Price CPU AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor $93.89 @ OutletPC Motherboard Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard $70.88 @ OutletPC Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory - Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total (before mail-in rebates) $179.77 Mail-in rebates -$15.00 Total $164.77 Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-02 21:28 EDT-0400

    Im not really sure about that and maybe i also change the case to a smaller one if everything fits into it. Any help or recommendations are appreciated.

    L
    lunlope November 04, 2019

    Not sure about that currency. Dunno what country you are from.

    But if i see your total is $300 in us, i would

    PCPartPicker Part List

    Type Item Price CPU AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor $119.00 @ Amazon Motherboard ASRock B450M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard $59.99 @ Newegg Memory Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory $54.99 @ Newegg Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts Total $233.98 Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-02 21:44 EDT-0400

    This differs from your current market.

    R
    rotsono December 28, 2019

    Thanks for your help!

    My currency is € and i buy from germany, like i said in my post.

    Why the 2400g over the newer 3xxx ones? Just wondering, because i thought the newer ones would be better and more future proof?

    A
    A3roVero January 06, 2020

    I'd switch that motherboard to the asrock b450m pro4, I believe they're around the same price but the asrock board is quite a bit better thermal wise.

    there are probably cheaper ram options, look into 3200mhz sticks.

    R
    rotsono November 13, 2019

    Thanks for the help!

    The normal pro4 or the pro4 F? They are both the same price, but i dont really see the difference.

    Q
    Qebly January 05, 2020

    Need help determining worth of pc

    Hello I’m a console gamer and tryna transition to the master race but I don’t no shit bout specs or prices how much would you pay for a pc with these specs

    Motherboard: msi a68hm fm2+

    Processor: amd a8-7670k radeon r7 3.7 ghz

    Graphics card: GTX 1050

    Operating system: windows 10pro

    Ram: patriot viper ddr3 8gb 2x4gb

    I
    IamXale February 02, 2020

    I honestly wouldn't waste my time with these parts, they offer very poor performance.

    Q
    Qebly January 12, 2020

    Ok thanks also would you mind if I send you some more to evaluate

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    pentafluorostyrene February 23, 2020

    Since you asked fro a recommendation in a previous thread that's deleted or something.

    Disclaimer: I'm not from the US, so I don't know the US prices.

    Since you have 500 bucks to spend, I would go for the following:

    Mainboard: µATX or ATX AM4 Mainboard. You don't really ned any specific chipset and since we are not going to run some HEDT CPUs on this board, really, the cheapest on will suffice (around 50$ in EU)

    CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or 1600 (cheap new, even cheaper used, should be around max 100$ used) (if new, boxed cooler is enough at frist)

    RAM: 2x 8GB DDR4 3000 , depends on what's cheapest near you, around 60$ in EU) (used not muchcheaper)

    PSU: Any 400W or higher PSU will do nicely. If you want a good one, get a beQuiet or Seasonic for ~50§

    Case: Get some random case for 25$, be aware of the size of your GPU und Mainboard Formfactor (µATX ATX)

    SSD: Get at least some cheap 240G SSD of Amazon for 20$, if you want some games on ssd get a 480/500/512G ssd for 50$, cheap one will do

    HDD: Depending on the amount of games you want to store localy, get a cheap 2tb HDD for around 65§ (or less)

    GPU: Spend your spare money (around 150$ here), best look at the used market (ebay or whatever you use) This should get you at least an AMD RX 480/580 8GB or an GTX 1060 6GB. With some luck, even a GTX 1070 8GB. You want at least 6GB Video Memory!

    Soo, that's it ^^

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    Qebly January 05, 2020

    Thanks for all the help bro I’ll look up these pieces and get them

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    Welsher808 January 12, 2020

    $0, for more casual games it’ll still be alright but today’s standards are moving on from the hardware that’s in it. Look for PC’s with Ryzen processors, DDR4 RAM, and SSD for storage. As far as the graphics card goes I’m not sure what you’re trying to play. The 1050 might still be good for some things but I don’t have experience with one to really say.

    Q
    Qebly March 01, 2020

    Thanks for the response how bout this one

    Intel i7 processor 16gb DDR3 RAM 3TB hard drive GeForce GT630 GPU

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    pigshet August 14, 2018

    Need help between choosing CPUs

    So I currently have an RX 470 with an A8-7670k, my question is will an i7-860 be better for gaming?

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    Silver_Foxxx August 22, 2018

    The Core i7 860 will be slightly better.

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    ex1337 August 26, 2016

    Help understanding some of the basics?

    Hello all! I'm very new to overclocking and I'm still reading some of the guides and watching some videos and just trying to learn before all my parts are ordered. There's just somethings I can't quite wrap my head around yet:

    Voltage? Why is this important? In some things I've read it points out that voltage is only useful to mess with for extreme overclocking, yet others say you need to do it no matter the amount. How do I know if I'm doing anything extreme? Or is it best to do it immediately regardless of what's going on?

    What kind of MHz would you reccommend starting with for increments? Some guides say smaller numbers than others and I just want to make sure I'm not wasting hours going to slowly.

    I'm building a machine to practice overclocking with, that will serve my purposes for a temporary solution to my current broken one. Processor AMD A8-7670k Cooling * NZXT Kraken 41 4 Noctua F-12 PWM 120 Memory Kingston Hyper FuryX 1866 2x8GB Motherboard Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Case Corsair 250D PSU CoolerMaster V series 550w

    Thanks in advanced!!!

    J
    jdorje September 11, 2016

    You need to change voltage to overclock.

    Start at a target voltage, and increment core until you crash.

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    ex1337 August 10, 2016

    How do I know based on the piece being overclocked how much is too much? Is there just a good gauge for most thing?

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    Critics Reviews

    The A8-7670K is an FM2+ socket processor, and thus requires either an A88X, A85X, A78 or A68 motherboard to go with it in order to take full advantage. As part of the launch, and given that this ...
    The A8-7670K can certainly cope with basic computing and some simple gaming, but this chip is relatively dear for what it is, and it's really more for laptop users. For Great for simple browsing ...
    The A8-7670K, with a minor recent discount to $100, is essentially the center point of that APU stack, on AMD's latest process design tweaks. We overclocked our sample to 4.6 GHz, but your mileage ...
    The A8-7670K is, based on its characteristics, similar to the A10-7800, which we already tested. Actually, the A8-7670K has a slightly higher base clock (3.6 GHz against 3.5 GHz of the A10-7800).
    The AMD A8-7670K is a 64 bit chip, such as most processors these days. But let us talk about the more interesting part of the APU, the integrated graphics, or iGPU. The AMD A8-7670K is equipped with Radeon R7 series iGPU cores. These run at a base frequency of 757 MHz and have 384 shader units.
    The A8-7670K retails at USD 109, a very good price for a processor with this performance, however there are 2 major problems plaguing the APU in Malaysia. Converting it directly based on exchange rate woudl show that the processor should retail at RM 450 which I think is awesome should it be so.